Press Releases
Reflection from ‘Together at Christmas’ Community Carol Service
The Dean of Armagh, the Very Revd Shane Forster, shared the following reflection at the ‘Together at Christmas’ Community Carol Service in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh, on Wednesday evening (3rd December) supported by the Royal Foundation of the Prince of Wales and Princess of Wales.
To give your heart is to give your love. The gift of love is very much the theme of this special Community Carol Service. It is also central to the message of the Christmas story and fundamental to Jesus’ command as to how we are to treat one another – that we are to love our neighbours as we ourselves would wish to be loved. Yet I think we are all very aware that love seems to be in short supply these days, in so many places, in a world overshadowed by war, violence and conflict.
Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales in her letter to all those attending the special ‘Together at Christmas’ events and services, writes, “At its heart, Christmas speaks of love taking form in the simplest, most human ways.” That’s so very true. Love doesn’t have to be complicated or revealed in big things and great occasions. Often it is known and experienced behind closed doors, out of the spotlight, and without any fuss or fanfare. Love is shown in so many different ways throughout the community, every day, of every month, of every year and often goes unnoticed.
· Love is shown in foodbanks, collecting and distributing essential items for daily life, to those in need.
· Love is shown in second–hand or nearly new shops, raising money to support projects on the ground.
· Love is shown in a friendly voice at the end of a phone, offering calm support and a listening ear, to the individual who has hit rock bottom and is struggling in life.
· Love is experienced in the helping hand or by the held hand, in physical and emotional burdens, shared and carried. It is seen in those who care for the elderly, the sick and dying.
· Love is witnessed in the gentle candlelight of a great Cathedral like this, in our churches and faith communities but also in the reflected blue flashing lights at the scene of an accident. It is seen in those in uniform who are first to respond to the devastation and trauma of a road traffic collision or to intervene in a domestic incident in a family home.
· Love is shown in those who offer encouragement to those less able, those in financial difficulty, and to those who find themselves strangers in a foreign land. And also in those who encourage and support the younger generation to enjoy and live life to the full.
You see love is shown in so many ways and in so many places around us and yet we so often take it for granted or fail to notice.
Tonight, let us say thank you to all the members of the emergency services, to charity workers and representatives, youth organisation leaders, indeed to everyone who shows genuine kindness, love and support, compassion and understanding each and every day to those in need in our community.
Thank you for your generosity of time and of service and for the love you have given and continue to give. It is good to celebrate your love and to be together this Christmas and to rejoice in what community is all about, how we are all interconnected on so many different levels and dependent on one another.
In the stable at Bethlehem, that holy night, light and hope were intertwined in the holy child, when love came down at Christmas. God entered into the world’s difficulties and sorrows, and into those places, and into those people, filled with hurt and pain, he brought, and continues to bring, peace and comfort, light, hope and love.
May love triumph over all hatred, bringing unity where there is division. May the true light scatter the darkness from around us and before us. And may we always love our neighbours just as we would wish to be loved.
May the peace of Christ rest upon each one of us, this Christmas and always.
St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh
c/o Armagh Robinson Library
43 Abbey Street
Armagh
BT61 7DY
(028) 3752 3142
[email protected]